Locking device



Nov. 18, 1930. A. THOMAS ET AL 17,782,030

LOCKING DEVICE Filed March 22, 1928 a Sheets-Sheet 1 OMQS anf LOCKINGDEVICE Filed March 22, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 n ewag Nov. 18, 1930. A.THOMAS ET AL 1,732,039

LOCKING DEVICE Filed March 22, 1928 ,5 Sheets-Sheet s UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE ARTHUR THOMAS, OF THORNTON T 1, AND FREDERIGK EDWARDI-IALLAEAN, OF

SO'UTI-ENDON SEA, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOES TO THE ACCOUNTING & TABULATINGCORPORATION, OF GT. BRITAIN, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND LOCKING DEVICEApplication filed March 22, 1928. Serial No. 263,851;

The invention relates to a safety elevating gear or locking deviceparticularly applicable to calculating machines of the type de scribed,for example, in the British specification, No. 26,896 of 1913, thoughapplicable to other purposes.

A machine of the kind referred to comprises two main portions, a basecontaining the sensing-pin box, connection boxes and much of the drivinggear, and the upper part containing the adding and printing mechanism,this upper part or head being hinged to the lower part so that it can beraised when required for the substitution of one connection box byanother, or for other purposes.

Hitherto much care has been required on the part of the operator whenlifting the adding head in order to avoid damage to the machine, themain safety requirements being that the machine must be not only stoppedwhen the head is raised but stopped in a certain point in its cycle,While none of the mechanisms must be set in the operating position, thislatter point referring particularly to the total-taking mechanism.

In addition it is desirable that when once the head has been raised, themachine cannot be moved either by hand or power.

The present invention seeks to provide mechanical safety devices of thecharacter indicated and comprises the combinations of elementshereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings which show suficientparts of the complete machine to enable the present invention to beunderstood Figure 1 is an end elevation and Figure 2 a side elevation ofthe machine as a whole;

Figure 3 is a detail view as seen from the line 3-3 of Figure 1 of thetotal-taking engaging mechanism;

Figure 4 shows to a larger scale the total taking link broken withhand-operated latch raised,

Figure 5 showin similarly a detail of the latch in its lowered position;

Figure 6 shows an end view of the mainclut-ch and hand-leverinterlocking mechanism, looking on the other end of the machine ascompared with Figure 1;

Figure 7 shows a detail of the sliding clutch member in longitudinalsection, while Figure 8 shows the main-shaft latch when the drivingclutch is in its operative position.

In carrying the invention into effect as applied by way of example tothe calculating and printing machine described in British specification,No. 26,896 of 1918, and operated by perforated cards, the main base orframe of the machine is indicated at l, and carries the sensingpin box,2, the feed rolls, 3, and the pin box, l, between which and the stops,9, the connection box (not shown) is placed. On this base an addinghead, 5, is hinged to turn about the point, 6, so that it can be movedfrom the full-line position to the posi tion shown in chain lines inFigure 1, this movement being effected by a hand lever, 7, mounted on ashaft, 7 provided at each end with a lever, 8, contacting with theunderside of the head. The head itself carries the stops, 9,above-mentioned, the sectors, 10, and the printing devices, 11.

In particular, in machines as heretofore constructed a link has extendedfrom the base of the machine to the head for operating the total-takingmechanism, this link being attached to a lever, 12, mounted on a shaft,13, carried by suitable brackets, 1%, on the head.

One particular danger the present invention is designed to obviate isthe straining of this link or the parts operated therefrom on liftingthe head.

Various forms of total-taking mechanism are known but that illustratedin Figure 1 by way of example follows broadly the lines of the similarmechanism described in the United States patent specification, No.12%,506.

he main motion shaft, 15, carries a cam having a cam path, 16, withwhich engages a roller, 17, mounted on one arm of a bell crank, 18,pivoted at the point, 19, the end of the other arm of the bell crankhaving pivoted thereto lever, 20, provided with a lateral projection,21, which if the lever, 20, is suitably placed engages with thecomplementary lateral projection, 22, on one arm of a bell crank, 23,mounted on a spindle, 24, the other arm being latchable at the propertil ie by the latch, 25. (See Figures 1 and The spindle, 24, has alsomoun' ed thereon a lever, 26, the end of which in the old form of themachine was directly linked by a one-piece link to the end of the lever,12, on the adding jeotion, 22, only when it was desired to take a total,at other tnnes the lever end being displaced so that the projection, 21,was not .in apositionto engage with the projection,

(Q AA.

According to the present invention, the

link connecting the levers, 12 and 26, is made in two parts, 27 and 28,these two parts each fbeing provided respectively with slots, 2'?

and 28, and pins, 27 and 28*, passing therethrough so that the two partsof the link may @slide one on the other. The part, 23, however, carriesalatch, 29, pivoted at the point,

' arm, 29 being formed with 30, and under the control of the spring, 31,this latch having two arms, 29 and 29"., the

recess,29, adapted to engage a pin, 32, projectin from the part, 2. ofthe link. /Vith the latch in the position shown in Figure 1,

the two parts of the link are rigidified so as to form in effect aone-piece link.

For the operat on of the latch, 29, a slider,

' 33, isprovided, this slider bei bifurcated M on theright-hand end asshown in Figure 1 to engage with the handlever shaft, 7*, while at theother end it is provided with a part, 33, bentover at right angles; Amanuallyoperable lever, 34, (see also Figure15) is pivotally mounted atthe point, 35, on the frame of the machine, this lever carrying alaterallyprojecting pin, 36, adapted to engage with the turned-over art33.

Further, the slider, 33, carries a block, 38,

; forming an abutment which rests on the frame, 1', of the machine.

In addition, a cam, 37, shaped as shown in Figure 4, is rigidly securedto the shaft, 7,

and is so arranged that if the slider, 33, is in the position shown inFigure 1, the block, 33,

engages withthe cam, 37, and prevents rotation of the shaft.

v The object'of the whole mechanism is that the hand lever, 7, cannot bemoved from its full-line position in Figure 1 to raise the adding headuntil the two-piece link has been unlatched.

The mechanism described operates in the following mannerIfitisdesiredto1iftthehead,thelever,

34, is operated so that the pin, 36, co-acting with the bent-over part,33, draws the slider,

a. semi-circular 33, to the left as shown by the arrow thereon in Figure1, this motion on the one hand removing the abutment, 38, from the rangeof the block, 37, and on the other hand causing the pin, 33", to co-actwith the short end, 29", of the latch, 29, and turn the latter about itspivot, 30, thereby causing the long arm, 29*, to disengage from the pin,32, and so permit the parts, 27 and 28, of the two-piece link to slidein relation to one another, the linkmembers, 2'7, 28, assuming theposition shown. in V Figure 4. The pin, 36, after moving the slider, 33,lies above the line of centres so that erative position, the slider, 33,under the infiuenc'e oi the spring, 33, and the latch, 29, moves to theright, thereby withdrawing the. pin, '33", and permitting the spring,31, to cause the latch, 29, to snap into a position to lock the t weparts of the two-piece link so that the link is automatically restoredto a position in which it can again cause totals to be taken asdetermined by the control mecha- V nlsm. 7

According to a further part of the invention, the hand lever, 7 is sointerlocked with the main motion shaft, 15, that the head of the machinecannot be lifted unless (a) the main motion shaft is stopped and (b)stopped in a particular position. @n the other hand when oneethe handlever, 7, has been moved to raise the head, the machine cannot be movedby hand or power. 7

In carrying this part o1 the invention into effect according toonetorm,on the shaft, 15,

is mounted loosely a member, 39, provided with a worm wheel,'40, and aflange, 41, cars rying a. dog-tooth, 42 The worm wheel is driven byaworm,43, mounted on a spindle,

44, carryinga pulley, 45, which in turn re ceives its motion by way or"a belt, 46, from a second pulley, 47, driven from any convenient sourceor" power. A second member, 48, is mounted so as 'toturn with the shaft,15, but at the same time to be capable of sliding axially in relationthereto, this member'also being provided with a dog-tooth, 49, adaptedto engage with the tooth, 42, when the member, 48, is moved axiallyagainst the action of the a spring, 50. The shaft, 15, is made hollowfor a certain length and into this hollow portion a reduced length, 51,of the shaft, 52, is inserted. 'Oppositely-disposed slots, 53, areformed in the wallsor the hollow portion and in these respectivelyblocks, 54, slide with a teeth,

desired range-of movement, a tapered pin, 55, passing successively,through the member, 48, through the blocks, 54, and reduced portion, 51,of the shaft. Axial movement can be given to the member, 48, to causethe (log- 42 and 49, to engage, by means of a hand lever, 56, mounted ona spindle, 57, carrying a lever, 58, with roller, 59, bearing againstthemember, 48. The enlargedpart of the shaft, 52, carries a disc, 60,provided with a radial slot, 60 running across its face from the outsideto the centre, a catch, 61, pivoted at 62, to'any convenient fixed pointof the machine being provided with a projecting edge, 68, which canenter the slot, 61. To give support to the catch, 61, it mayconveniently buttagainst a column, 64, fixed on the machine. The catch,61, is connected by the link, 65, to a detent, 66, pivoted at 67, to theframe of the machine. Finally, the hand lever, 7,

has fixed thereto by the screws, 68, 68, a plate, 69, a spring, 70,connecting this plate to the detent, 66. The plate,

69, carries a block, 71, provided with an abutment, 72, with which theheel, 66 of the detent engages in certain circumstances, the detent, 66,being provided with an upwardly-curved portion, 66 for a purpose to behereinafter explained.

The operation of this part of the invention is as follows Supposing themachine is running, the dog-teeth, 42 and 49, are engaged and the disc,60, being moved to the right, the catch,

61, is unable to enter the radial slot, 60, in

the disc, 60, owing to the projecting edge, 63, of the catch riding onthe peripheral part of the disc, 60, as seen in Figure 8. If the member,18, by means of the hand lever, 56, is however, moved to the left, asseen in Figure 2, so as to declutch, the disc, 60, is also moved to theleft so that the turned-up end, 63, of the catch, 61, can enter theradial groove at a particular point of the revolution of the shafts, orSo long as the machine is running, an attempt to move the hand lever, 7,to the left as seen in Figure 6, to raise the head is resisted by thestop, 72, butting against the heel, 66, of the detent, 66, the spring,70, being slightly stressed by the idle motion of the lever, 7. If,however, the machine is stopped and the disc, 60, is in the correctposition, the initial movement of the hand lever, 7, to the leftstresses the spring, 70, and causes it to lift the detent, 66, andupturned end of the catch, 61, to enter the radial groove, The shoulder,72, is then out of line with the heel, 66 of the detent, so that thelever can pass to the left and lift the head of the machine. lVhen solifted the curved portion, 66 of the detent, 66, bears against theblock, 71, so that the detent cannot fall and consequently the catch,61, cannot be removed from the radial groove, 61". As a result, with thehead of the machine by way of the link, 65, to cause the r raised, themechanism cannot be moved by hand-owing to the position of the catch,61, and cannot bemoved'by power due-tothefact that the clutch is out ofengagement. To

lower the head the hand lever, 7', is moved a tothe right until theprojection, 71, has passed the heel of the detent, the detent thenfalling into the position shown in Figure 6, and by way of. the link,65, taking the catch, 61, out of engagement with the radial slot, 60so-that the mechanism is now freed and the machine can be started whenrequired.

Iaving now described our invention, what we claim as new and desiretosecure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination in a machine of theclass described, of a base frame, total. controlling and sensingmechanisms mounted on said base frame, a head frame movable in relationto said base frame, calculating mechanisms mounted on said head frame,cripplabie movement-transmitting means interconnecting said mechanismson said base and head frames, means for moving said. head frame inrelation to said base frame, together with means to prevent movement ofsaid head-frame from an operative to an inoperative position withoutrendering said interconnecting meansinoperative.

2.- The combination of elements claimed in claim 1, in which saidinterconnecting means takes the form of a link having relatively movableparts with means for holding said parts in an operative position whenthe head frame is in its operative position.

3; The combination of elements claimel in claim 1, in which saidinterconnecting means takes the form of a link having relatively movableparts with means for holding said parts. in an operative preventingmeans consists in a, single instrumentality operating both to lock andunlock said head-frame-moving means and correspondingly to renderoperative and inoperative said holding means.

4. The combination of elements claimed in claim 1, with means forautomatically re turning-said preventing means to their opera-tivepositionwhen said head-frame-moving meansis actuated to return said headframe to its operative position.

5. The combination of elements claimed in claim 1, in which saidinterconnecting means takes the form of a link having relatively movableparts with means for holding said parts in an operative position andsaid preventing means consists in a movable locking element operativelyassociated both with said head-frame-moving means and with said int-erconnecting means, together with manually-operable means for moving saidmovable element to free said head-frame-moving means and torenderinoperative said holding means. v

6. The combination of elements, claimed position and said in claim 8, inwhich said in claim 1, inwhich said preventingmeans consists in aspring-controlled movable element operatively associated bothwith saidhead-frame-moving means and with said interconnecting means,manually-operable means for moving said movable element into operativeposition, said manually operable means being held in effective positionby said v spring-controlled movable. element, together withmeans inrigid relation to said headframe-moving means for moving said springcontrolled movable element to release said manually-operable element.

7. The combination in a machine of the class described, of a base frame,a head frame movable in relation to said base frame, interconnectedmechanisms mounted respectively on said head and base frames, means formoving said head frame in relation to said base frame, a driving shaftwith a clutch for actuating said mechanisms, means for looking saidhead-frame-moving means with the head frame in an operative position,and means for unlocking said locking means, said unlocking means beingoperable only when said clutch is in an inoperative position.

8. The combination in a machine of the class described, of a base frame,a head frame movable in relation to said base frame, in terconnectedmechanisms mounted respectively on said head and base frames, means formoving said head frame in relation to said base frame, a driving shaftwith a clutch for actuating said mechanism, means for locking saidhead-frame-moving means in an inoperative position and means dependenton the'position of said clutch for controlling said locking means. 7 V f9. The combination of elements claimed means for control-V ling saidlocking means is engageable Witha member of said clutch only when saidmemher is in a' predetermined position. 7 r

10. The combination in' a machine of the class described, of a baseframe, frame movable in relation to said base frame,- interconnectedmechanisms mounted respectively on said head and base frames, means formoving said head frame in relation to said base frame, locking means forsaid head-frame-moving means, a driv-' ing shaft for actuating saidmechanisms,

, locking means for said driving shaft, means for interconnecting saidfirstand secondmentioned locking means, and'a yielding connectionbetween said head-frame-moving meansand said locking means therefor, in-

. itial movement of saidmoving means in cer- 7 class described, of abase frame, a head tain conditions stressing said yieldingconnection to.render said locking means inoperative 11. Thecombination in a machine ofthe frame movable in relation to said base frame, interconnectedmechanisms mounted respectively 011 said head and base frames, means formoving said head frame in relation to said base frame, locking means forsaid head.- frame-moving means, a driving shaft for actuating saidmechanisms, locking means for said driving shaft, and means forinterconnecting said firstand second-mentioned locking means,said'locking means for said driving shaft including an axially-movableclutch member and a lock proper engageable therewith only when saidclutch member is in an inoperative position. 7 V

12. The combination in a machine of the class described, of a baseframe, a head frame movable in relation to saidbase frame,interconnected mechanisms mounted respectively on said head and baseframes,'means for moving said head framein relatio-nto said base frame,locking means for said headframe-moving means, a driving shaft foractuating said mechanisms, locking means for said driving shaft, andmeans for interconnecting said firstand second-mentioned lock 'ingmeans, said locking means for said driving shaft including anaxially-movable clutch member having a slot therein and a lock properengageable wth said slot.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

ARTHUR THOMAS. FREDERICK EDWARD HALLAHAN.

